A woman was arrested Saturday on a felony charge after she was found asleep in a recliner in the apartment of strangers.
Samantha Hooten, 21, is charged with residential entry.
Police responded just before 8 a.m. to a complaint of a burglary in progress on the 3200 block of East Braeside Drive, Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Pam Gladish said. When officers arrived, one of the roommates answered the door and pointed to a woman asleep in the recliner. The front part of the apartment had been ransacked.
None of the roommates — two men and two women, with ages between 20 and 23 — knew the woman in the recliner. One roommate said she’d been the last person home the night before, at about 2 a.m. Though they were sure the front door was locked, they told police the back sliding door might not have been.
Officers woke the woman, later identified as Hooten, who was groggy and confused, Gladish said. She told officers she didn’t know where she was, and later said she doesn’t know anyone who lives on the east side of town and wasn’t sure how she’d gotten there. Though Hooten did not steal anything, Gladish said it appeared she’d started to gather items in the house before falling asleep, including household furnishings, video games and cash. She had rummaged through drawers and closets.
Police took Hooten to the hospital, Gladish said. Later in the day, they arrested her and took her to the Monroe County Correctional Center.
Jack Evans
